Koeman and going at Ajax

By Berend Scholten

AFC Ajax's 3-1 defeat at AJ Auxerre in last Thursday night's UEFA Cup second leg proved to be the final straw for coach Roland Koeman, who resigned on Friday morning.

Early success
The 41-year-old had taken charge at the club on 3 December 2001 following the dismissal of Co Adriaanse, having proved his worth in an excellent spell with SBV Vitesse. "Ajax have always been synonymous with success," he announced. "Now I want to bring the great Ajax back to the top." True to his word, he brought the club a league and cup double in 2001/02 and took them to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 2002/03.

Great youngsters
Success on the pitch was founded in part on a production line of great youngsters. The Koeman era saw the likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Nigel de Jong and Steven Pienaar battle their way into the first team, raising hopes of a return to the club's 1970s and early 1990s golden eras.

Tactics criticised
However, such talk came to an end in the 2003/04 season as Ajax bowed out of Champions League Group H with just six points from their six matches. They went on to win the Eredivisie title, but against a backdrop of criticism of Koeman's abandonment of Ajax's 4-3-3 house style and disputes with some of his young charges.

Unsuccessful signings
Further questions were asked of Koeman's ability in the transfer market with major signings like Tom Soetaers, Wesley Sonck and Victor Sikora having come and gone with little effect during his tenure. However, grumbles of discontent became a chorus of disapproval this season.

Third place
At the start of the season, Ajax fell behind Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven and, more surprisingly, AZ Alkmaar who are playing an approximation of Ajax-style attacking football under Amsterdam ArenA old boy Adriaanse. Ajax are currently eight points off top spot in third place.

Lower expectations
In Europe, things were almost as bad. With Ajax struggling in Champions League Group C, Koeman asked the club's board to lower their target from a place in the last 16 of Europe's premier club competition to surviving in Europe until the spring. The club accepted, but technical director Louis van Gaal did not, resigning in October 2004, saying: "After the decision was made about lowering our targets, something broke. It was short-term thinking. One always should aim higher than actually possible, so you can talk about why it did not work out later."

New target
Koeman fulfilled his new target with a third-placed finish in Group C which earned Ajax a place in the UEFA Cup, but failing to get past Auxerre and into the last 16 was too much. "I do not have the strength and energy left to get over this, and to make the team perform better again," he complained.

Koeman resigns
With that, he resigned leaving Ajax with the huge problem of who to replace him with. During Koeman's tenure, youth coaches Marco van Basten and John van't Schip have joined the national team set-up and it looks unlikely that Adriaanse or Van Gaal will be called back any time soon.

Mystery man
Ajax general manager Arie van Eijden has elicited the advice from Johan Cruyff on the new man. Youth coach Danny Blind, Tottenham Hotspur FC coach Martin Jol and FC Barcelona assistant coach Henk ten Cate have all been mentioned as candidates. "We want to act quickly, but not rashly," said Van Eijden.